The sky was all shades of oranges and reds when Alice finally left her last class of the day. She had been looking at the sun descending through the window. Even now, as she walked out of the building to go home, she kept staring at the sky through the windows.

A loud sound of metal hitting stone snapped her attention away from the outside. There was some skinny kid fighting the disconnected vending machine and everyone kept walking past him without a care for it. The machine bounced with how hard the guy shoved it and hit the wall once more.

"Wow, what did it do to you?" she approached him, smiling.

The boy looked back at her and she recognised him. It took a while for her to remember where she knew him from, but eventually, it made sense in her head.

"The machine swallowed my money and turned off," he complained. "It doesn't give me the change or my snickers."

He kicked it one more time, but she pushed him back. All that savagery was unnecessary and if there was something Alice hated was violence. That's why she avoided Miguel.

"There's a trick to it," she explained. "This place is ancient, just check the plug."

She stuck her hand behind the machine, and suddenly it lit up. More than his snickers, one of each snack fell down and all his money was returned to him.

"Are you kidding?" he exclaimed, grabbing the coins and counting them one by one. "I can't take all of this. I didn't pay for it... Actually, I didn't pay for anything at all."

She leaned against it and shrugged. "You're already paying your eyes off to be in here. Do you want to pay for food, too?"

His eyes met hers. He had a scholarship; he wasn't actually paying.

"I'll take my snickers," he said. "You can take the rest."

Alice smiled and stuck her arm inside the vending machine, taking out everything that had fallen. She threw him his snickers, which he barely caught, and looped her arm in his before he could protest.

"Let's go have a picnic!" she beamed. "You're Gio, right? I'm Ali."

Giovanni let himself be pulled by her with a nod. They ended up in the grass field outside, protected by the banister next to them so the students walking in and out wouldn't bother them.

Alice tossed her bag to a corner and sat criss-cross on the sod, right next to Giovanni. She displayed everything in front of them and grabbed a bag of chips before leaning against the banister.

"You're a friend of the girl from the cafe, aren't you?" he asked, taking a bite of his snickers.

She nodded, though she wasn't very found of being remembered as someone's friend.

"Do you help strangers with vending machines often?"

She giggled. He didn't look so scared now as he did when she first met him.

"Sometimes. They don't give me their chips, though."

He shrugged. "Technically, you stole all of that. I'm pretty sure the cameras caught you."

Alice burst out laughing. It wasn't funny, and it made him frown, but to her, it was amusing. He was still with her, even if he was against taking all that stuff and didn't seem to leave her soon.

"Then you're my partner in crime."

He shook his head. "They know you were the one who 'fixed' it."

She shrugged, not bothering to tell him there were no cameras. Even if there were, she doubted anyone would do anything about it.

"Want a chip?" she asked, turning the bag to him. "They're not as good as a snack from The Bookmark, but they're good."

He hesitated, but took one regardless. His nights were usually spent studying with his roommate, eating chips and drinking soda, so he couldn't really complain. The day before had been his first time going to an actual cafe since he didn't go out that much. His roommate, Jaime, and his friends used to invite him to hang out, but he didn't feel at ease with them.

Going to The Bookmark was a rare occasion that only happened because he was hungry and he couldn't go back to his room since Jaime had his boyfriend over. It was a terrible incident and he would never go there during Aisha's shift again. Yet, Nicole wasn't terrible.

"So, how do you know the waitress?" he asked, trying to keep the conversation alive.

"We met last year in French class," she explained. "Nicole wanted to drop out, but I've made her stay."

Right, Nicole. He had seen her nametag but forgotten it completely.

His memory of her was based mostly on her piercing blue eyes. Everything else was blurry, even if he had seen her the day before.

"Is she single?"

Alice gripped a can of soda in her hand. This time she would not cry, but only because Andrew wasn't there. If he was, then she'd probably turn into a fountain as soon as she laid eyes on him.

"Yes, she is," she replied dryly. "But if I were you, I wouldn't try anything. She isn't very found of relationships."

He frowned. "Seriously? Why?"

She sighed and got up. "Because her last relationship shook her. She doesn't talk about."

He got up too, shaking off the grass glued to his pants. The orange sky was quickly turning dark blue, and only the light of the lamps allowed him to see more than the contours of her figure.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

She gathered the rest of the bags and cans before standing straight and looking at him again. He was only an inch or two taller than her, but he resembled Lucas in the way they were both very thin.

"Home. It's getting late and I still have an essay to finish."

"Can I walk you?"

Alice shook her head, scanning the road for her sister's car. Many were leaving, but most students walked rather than go wherever by car, so it was never hard to find Isabel.

"You don't need to. My sister is taking me."

"Oh, okay," he nodded in agreement. "Can I have your number, then?"

She frowned. It hadn't been that long since she and Andrew had broken up, barely more than a month, and she didn't really want to be in a relationship again. She needed to figure some things before.

"Look, you seem like a nice guy but..."

"What does that mean?" he cut her off. "What is it with girls and saying that?"

"Oh...I-I-mm..."

"I just want to know if you get home safely. Can you text me when you do?"

Her mouth was dry and she could feel her cheeks heating. It was stupid of her to think he was interested after one talk. Not everyone was as rushed as she had been. It was hard to remember herself of that, mostly because it meant admitting she was wrong.

"But then I'm the one who needs your number," she mumbled.

A car honked behind them and she saw her sister getting impatient inside the car.

"You're not wrong." He grabbed a pen from his bag and wrote his phone number on her hand. "Bye."

A faint smile appeared on her face, and she waved at him as she backed away to Isabel. He really was a nice guy.

🤍🖤🤍

Eliza had fallen asleep on one sofa in the middle of the cafe, forcing Andrew to sit on the floor. His laptop was on the small table in front of him per usual and an empty coffee mug sat by its side.

All his work and school assignments were done, yet he didn't want to go back home. The cold white walls felt more and more suffocating by the day. Or maybe it was the judgemental eyes of his family in each portrait hanging on the wall.

Nicole's shift was close to ending and the next waiters, whose names he could never remember, would arrive soon. Yet Andrew never stayed much longer after Nicole left. It was late, and he didn't really have much to do. Going home and cooking dinner could be enough distraction from the deafening silence.

With time, he and Nicole became more at ease with each other, to the point they actually chatted. At the moment, she was cleaning the table the last clients had just left from. The cafe was empty beside the three of them.

"Witty..." Eliza mumbled, half awake, grabbing the back of his shirt before falling asleep again.

He hated she had learned Nicole's nickname for him. In a few days, she went from Andy to Witty and didn't seem likely to change.

She wasn't there every day. Still, once in a while, the owner walked in and dropped the tiny girl with whoever was working. Eliza always clung to him, no matter who was the waiter supposed to take care of her. He'd learned everyone she hated and loved. She liked Jenny cuz she let her say bad words, but she didn't like Aisha cuz she stepped on the ant Eliza had adopted once. And the list went on and on.

A blue mug filled with something brown with marshmallows floating was placed in front of him rather harshly and Nicole sat on the floor in front of him, her back against the other sofa. Her hands went to her face in desperation and she shoved the hair falling on her face back, exhaling. It was obvious she was overworking herself, but she wouldn't admit it.

"On the house." She motioned to the hot chocolate, noticing his questioning expression. "The boss says we need to treat you well cuz you're our most valuable client. And since you always drink coffee, I thought it would be nice to change it a little."

"Coffee is the cheapest," he admitted and took a sip of the fuming drink. "This is delicious. It's literally the best hot chocolate I've ever drunk."

Nicole frowned. Not because of the beverage. She was perfectly aware The Bookmark had the best recipe of many drinks, even if Alice preferred other places to eat than there. What took her off guard was how he simply said he didn't want to spend much money.

"What does that matter? Aren't you rich?"

Andrew put the mug down, considering what to say. He didn't want to tell her anything that could compromise him. Deep down, he knew he was being paranoid, yet too many unpleasant experiences told him to be cautious and never let his guard down.

"My parents are rich," he explained. "That doesn't mean I am."

She bit her cheek. It made sense, but it didn't. People born into rich families didn't just get broke after they left home. His parents should finance his studies and his housing. Maybe not the housing, since it was the family's property, but still.

Nicole's own father didn't pay more than the tuition fees, but that was because she stopped talking to him almost completely.

"Did they cut you off?"

He licked his lips, looking at the marshmallows instead of her. It wasn't a topic he wanted to discuss.

"Something like that."

"How are you paying for university?" she blurted.

Forget uni. How is he paying electricity bills and food? Oh, and that swimming pool had to be filled somehow...

He shrugged. "I had a job in New York and I have a job here. I've been saving for a couple of years."

A couple of years wasn't enough to pay for the fees, at least for Nicole. However, she knew nothing about his finances.

"I'm serious. This is the best hot chocolate ever." He took another sip. "Can I convince you to leave this place and become my personal barista?"

She snorted and wrapped her hands in her own mug, letting the warmth heat her icy fingers. The chilly wind of winter was already knocking on the door, even if it was only November. Although the cafe had central heating, the opening and closing of the doors right in front of the counter was enough to make her feel cool.

"I enjoy working here," she said. "I can just sit reading whatever I want in the slow hours and when the cafe is empty."

Eliza moved again, startling both of them. She mumbled something about butterflies and oranges and scooted closer to Andrew, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

"She's choking me! She's choking me!" he whisper-yelled, faking a cough.

Nicole laughed and walked to them. She pulled Eliza's arms from him and covered her with a small blanket before sitting beside Andrew.

"You know," she said, motioning to his laptop. "I can't figure those things out."

"Seriously?"

She shrugged. "I mean, I get the basics, but when I'm doing something complicated, I always need to call my sister to explain it."

It was the first time she mentioned her sister, and he wanted to know more. Still, he was afraid her demeanour would change. He was still testing the waters, finding out what annoyed her and what didn't. Being with the unscowling, calm version of Nicole was a temporary thing, yet he liked it a little too much.

"Your sister?" he dared.

"Yeah. She needs to use the computer way more than me cuz she is in architecture."

Andrew realised he didn't know what did Nicole study. All those afternoons with her and yet they only made small talk or didn't talk at all.

"Does she take French too?" he asked. "I might've seen her already."

She smirked, knowing how foolish it was to think that.

"She's studying abroad. And you'd know if you met her."

"Are you too very similar?"

She licked her lips, a devious smile on them. "A little."

Their hot chocolates were cooling down, and she took a long sip, enjoying it while it was warm. Nothing was worse than hot drinks when they got cold.

She bit into a half-melted marshmallow that stuck to her teeth and lips. The white mass clung to her mouth, and she tried to take it off with her tongue, fighting the stickiness. Andrew noticed her and burst out laughing.

"What?" she asked, scowling.

"You look... ridiculous."

She grabbed a napkin from the table and tried to take it off her lips but got pieces of paper glued to her. Her eyes rolled at his laughter and she leaned back, giving up.

"You should kiss her. That's how they do in the movies."

They looked at Eliza, who was looking at them like one watches a romantic show. She was yet to lose her hope of getting Nicole a boyfriend. Andrew was far from being the only, but as she could see Lúcia and Miguel as a couple, she gave up on him and moved onto the next.

"That's disgusting, Liz." Nicole rolled her eyes once more.

"Yeah, she's got paper on her."

Eliza was about to reply, but her attention was stolen from them. There was a blond boy walking through the doors with a small bouquet in hand. He wore blue glasses that hid his freckled face and eyes, a shirt too big for him and an insecure expression.

"Hey, Gio!" Nicole waved at him, still picking paper from her mouth. "What can I get you?"

Giovanni looked at them, sitting side by side. It was an odd picture since the day before she looked annoyed at Andrew, yet the true weird feeling he was getting came from the tiny girl on the sofa staring at him.

"I want nothing. Just to give you these." He motioned to the flowers. "For believing me yesterday."

Eliza jumped from her spot and walked up to him, sticking her hand out to get the flowers. He glanced at Nicole, but she gave him an encouragement nod.

"I'm taking the flowers to myself as you cannot give them to Nicole," she told him, snatching the bouquet.

"Why can't she...?"

"She's allergic," she lied. "Besides, she's having a dramatic and heated romance with Witty, so no other man can court her."

Is it Witty or Andrew? He was confused since the day before, but he didn't dare ask.

"She's joking," Andrew told him, though he didn't appreciate the gesture and much less the interruption of one of his proper moments with Nicole. "I'm not courting her."

"Yet."

Giovanni crouched to be at her eye level. The girl crossed her arms across her chest, flowers hanging on her side, and cocked a brow in a silent challenge.

Did she learn it from Nicole, or did Nicole learn it from her? Andrew questioned, recognising the expression.

"What's your name?"

"Eliza Vasconcelos. But it is Liz for you."

"Well, Liz, you don't have to worry about me. I won't stand between them."

Nicole wasn't even paying attention anymore, having taken all the marshmallows from her. She gulped down the rest of her drink and leaned back, letting the kid take care of whatever she wanted to take care of. Even if Liz told Giovanni that Andrew and she were together, she wouldn't have cared. What people thought she did or didn't do was something she couldn't control and telling Eliza to keep quiet never worked.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

TEN CHAPTERS!

Such a small number... I wanna say: That's it, we've hit the middle! Cuz I wanna start editing some other stuff but...

We've hit 1/3!

I hope you're enjoying so far and if you're not... I understand... but keep reading ok?

Thank you for reading ;)